Ecology

Special Abilities

Clutches (Ex) A nightgaunt has a +4 racial bonus on grapple combat maneuver checks. If a nightgaunt uses its fly speed to move itself and a grappled target, it can fly at full speed.

Faceless (Ex) A nightgaunt has no face or eyes, but can perceive through blindsight in all directions. It is immune to gaze attacks, but not to illusions that rely upon vision to function. It has no need to breathe and is immune to all inhaled and scent-based effects.

Overwhelm (Ex) A nightgaunt can use the aid another action as an immediate action to aid an adjacent nightgaunt’s grapple check. When it does so, it grants a +4 bonus rather than a +2 bonus to the check. The bonuses granted from multiple nightgaunts aiding another in this way stack (so two nightgaunts aiding a third grant a total +8 bonus).

Tickle (Ex) As a swift action, a nightgaunt can use its tail to tickle a grappled or helpless foe with horrible efficiency. The target must succeed at a DC 14 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Dexterity-based.

Humanoid-sized creatures with black wings, nightgaunts have horns, talons, and thin barbed tails. Their bodies are slick and rubbery-looking, rather like the skin of a whale. They do not have faces at all but instead bear blank, unsettling surfaces on the front of their heads. It is not known how they feed, but they are able to sense other things around them with perfect clarity.

Nightgaunts often serve as guards, stationed to watch over areas by powerful beings such as Great Old Ones. They always attack in flocks, particularly large ones. They are sometimes termed “mindless,” but actually possess intelligence of a sort. While always perfectly silent, even while flying, they can understand speech.

Usually, Nightgaunts do not try to kill their victims directly but hamper, frustrate, and put them in dangerous situations. A horde of flapping nightgaunts typically emerges from tombs or a hollow mountain and carries off their victims to deposit them in situations of dire danger.